2025 Training Log Part 7

On the stereo today- LCD Soundsystem, American Dream

Not a lot happening last week as I’m managing an injury. A flare up of an old surgery as it happens. Those of you who read last week’s entry will note that I was blaming myself for being an idiot and going too hard for a laugh in the gym. But it turns out it’s just the same thing I’ve been managing for the last 15 years, just a particularly bad spasm that’s irritated the nerve.

Most injuries are wating to happen. They don’t happen when the guy runs into you, or you twist your knee in a weird way. Some of them happen that way, but most are like disaster movies.

You know in the disaster movie, where there are these shots of the loose bolt rattling on the side of the plane? Then someone says something like, “This old baby? Oh she’s safe as can be. She’ll get us there in one piece.” And then progressively you see the bolt rattling and rattling and rattling looser and looser, until eventually…

Well that’s most injuries in your 30s and 40s. The stiffness and tightness you ignore eventually rattles itself loose, and you go down in a heap on the mat. No actually, that’s not what happens when you’re in your 40s. What happens is you reach to the top shelf for a can of beans, and you go down in a heap. Or you wake in the middle of the night, as I did.

But this is a good opportunity, blog wise. You can all laugh at me.

So what I had 9 years ago was called an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion, or ACDF for short. The docs went into my neck via the front, pushed my trachea aside, removed a bulging disc, put a plastic washer in there instead (yeah, plastic washer, that bit did not fill me with confidence when I heard it first), and then fused the two vertebrae together using 4 screws and a titanium plate (Yes! I said, Titanium! Much more confidence inducing. Can the washer not be titanium too? No? You sure? It’s grand. Forget I asked).

I had a great recovery. I contemplated completely stopping Jiu Jitsu, but instead I went on to compete 6 months afterwards. I actually registered for that event in my hospital bed. But it does have complications. It’s the nervous system we’re talking about, and I’ve had flare ups since. This is just a bad one. Broadly the cause seems to be postural. The more time I spend at a laptop, the worse it gets, and my job has become very laptop and meeting based the past number of months.

So essentially, the bolt rattled loose from training, but it’s been rattling because I’ve been sitting at a desk more and more in the past number of months.

That said, I did some training!

Tuesday

Physio. I have a good one if you want a recommendation. Advised no upper body motions for now. Just a very angry nerve, very pissed at me.

Walk with dog- 1 hour

Wednesday

Walk with dog- 1 hour. Actually I walk the dog every day for an hour, sometimes twice, so I’ll stop logging that this week.

Kitchen work-

1. Bodyweight squats 5×20
2. Countertop supported pistols 5×5

Massage with the master Graham Doolan.

Saturday

Gave it a bit of welly.

1. Bike 15mins
2. Landmine Belt Squat 5×8
3. Single leg box squats- 3×10
4. Ball squats 5×20

Felt good to keep on moving.

Training Thoughts of the Week

A good opportunity to take stock and take a look at some of the training going on in the gym. I’m a hands-on coach, I like to roll with people and see how they feel. But stepping back is sometimes good.

Non-Training Thoughts of the Week

They gave me diazapam, aka Valium in the docs to relax the muscles. My first dance with this particular drug. Now as a rule, I don’t mess with brain altering chemicals, aside from a glass of wine or two at the weekends. My brain chemistry balance is far too delicate to start dicking around with it by adding foreign agents into it. But I took it, knowing that this is supposed to relax you and allow you to sleep.

No, it did not. Instead, I felt jittery and anxious. Wait, isn’t that the opposite intention of this particular drug? I did 3 days of it and then decided it can fuck off.

See you on the mat,

Barry